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Monday, March 30, 2015

So we now know that a country that used to be the land of opportunities and used to welcome people from all across the globe has just taken a u-turn and gone back to the dark ages. In the state of Indiana its now a law where a business can decide to not serve anyone based on their sexual orientation. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-32094331I also see that in future these laws are possible:

Indiana law allows business to not serve people who wear white shirts

Indiana law allows business to not serve people who have a different skin tone

Indiana law allows business to not serve people who do not wear turbans

Indiana law allows business to not serve people who happen to not have an smartphone

The question is how do such laws come into affect? My answer is - it all comes down to 1 mad person and the amount of money he/she controls.

Think of this as a story:

There is this guy who happens to be a vegan.

He owns about 17 steel plants and other manufacturing units across the globe; happens to be a multi-billionaire

He also happens to be friends with few politicians and invites them to his house for lunch

Over a vegan lunch he explains the politicians why its important that everyone should have vegan food or else it will be difficult for him to fund the party's state and national elections campaign

He also recommends that the laws must be changed - the non-vegans must not be allowed to open their lunches at the universities & other public places; or else election funding, etc

The politicians get scared and introduce a law - which is pro vegan because the smell of bacon or roasted chicken hurts the sentiments of the vegan people

So whats next?

A rich man who happens to wear only black shirts calls the same politician!

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

1.Sportsa.There was no sports world cup of any sorts – Ok Rugby League isn’t really rugby b.People came out and said – I am sorry I took drugs and yes I killed my girlfriend. c.England proved that they can change from a great team to an unbelievably crappy team in 11 weeks; and gift the Ashes back to Australia. d.England have qualified for the football world cup next year and although we don’t have any world class players some critics predict England to go all the way. 2.Russian politicsa.Let’s look at how they solved the Syrian crisis. When US were about the bomb the Syrians the Russians asked the question – “so what’s the problem here? Hmm chemical weapons? Ok Syria will destroy all of them; it’s alright then?” That happened and there was no attack from USA on Syria. As if the Syrian civilians were not suffering before. b.Pussy Riot – group members released. c.Green peace – cases dropped. d.What’s next? Corruption cases against the Russian mafia?3.US politicsa.On the other hand the big brother couldn’t get their government functioning for few weeks. Don’t know if the Members of the Congress got their salary for those days. I think that is like legal corruption - “I am not going to work but you still need to pay me!”b.What’s happening with the free healthcare? c.The president thinks taking selfies more important than giving respect to one of the greatest men to live on this planet. I have lost respect for Obama! 4.Moviesa.Manoj Knight Shamlan hasn’t made a decent film since Sixth Sense. b.Kickass 2 was a children’s film which had so much violence that I found Arnold’s films like cute kitten videos. c.Matt Damon is a socialist and has an IQ of 170!

Tirupati - to see the sheer madness (or belief) of millions of Indians in 1 god!

10 places I have visited & would never like to visit again

Mt Abu - It is over hyped and was a not cold. If I had to go to the mountains I would go to the Himalayas why go to Mt Abu?

Jaipur - Didn't like the weather. It was very dry, so dry that my nose started bleeding!

Delhi - Just too loud I must say.

Brugge, Belgium - Was too boring. Might go there once I am 70!

Mysore - was over hyped and boring! Was quite little when I went there and even then I got bored.

Dubai & Abu Dhabi - Would never visit that place ever. The Arabs are racist and treat South Asians as slaves.

Glasgow - Well may be because we visited Glasgow after sending efw days in Edinburgh that I really really didn't like it. Then I have heard its the murder capital of Europe etc etc. Would stay away from Glasgow and would visit only if it is very very necessary!

Tuljapur - I have my reasons!

The London Underground during peak hours.

The London Underground during non peak hours.

10 places I haven't visited and would like to visit on my next trip

The Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Machu Pichu, Peru

Kruger national park, South Africa

Rio Di Janeiro, for the Olympics of 2016

The backwaters of Kerala

Drive on Route 66 ( or drive from the east to the west coast of USA)

Drive from the south to the north of California

Bali - I was born on the beach

Angkor Wat - it's the largest Hindu temple on the planet & would like to see, how / when did the stories Ram & Raavan reach East Asia

Galapagos - because we all know that, that's where Darwin had his eureka moment

Monday, December 24, 2012

Before I write about what the people of India are going through at this moment, let us first go through what is there in the constitution of India on our fundamental rights. This is picked straight from Wikipedia and the six fundamental rights recognised by the constitution are:

Right to equality, including equality before law, prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, and equality of opportunity in matters of employment, abolition of untouchability and abolition of titles.

Right to freedom which includes speech and expression, assembly, association or union or cooperatives, movement, residence, and right to practice any profession or occupation (some of these rights are subject to security of the State, friendly relations with foreign countries, public order, decency or morality), right to life and liberty, right to education, protection in respect to conviction in offences and protection against arrest and detention in certain cases.

Right against exploitation, prohibiting all forms of forced labour, child labour and traffic in human beings;

Right to freedom of religion, including freedom of conscience and free profession, practice, and propagation of religion, freedom to manage religious affairs, freedom from certain taxes and freedom from religious instructions in certain educational institutes.

Cultural and Educational rights preserving Right of any section of citizens to conserve their culture, language or script, and right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.

Right to constitutional remedies for enforcement of Fundamental Rights. Fundamental rights for Indians have also been aimed at overturning the inequalities of pre-independence social practices. Specifically, they have also been used to abolish untouchability and hence prohibit discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth. They also forbid trafficking of human beings and forced labour. They also protect cultural and educational rights of ethnic and religious minorities by allowing them to preserve their languages and also establish and administer their own education institutions.

The constitution says that every Indian has the right to express their feelings, in a peaceful way and have the right to assemble. Is this being allowed to happen in free India? I do not think so.

Firstly in the capital city of India the women are not safe, and when the citizens go out and demand protection, those who should protect them become wolves. The police should be protecting the citizens and not become puppets of the ministers.

I saw on TV today that the citizens of Delhi were being beaten with sticks, were fired at with tear gas and greeted with water cannons. Is this what the freedom we dreamt of? What kind of independence did we get then?

After 65 years of independence the government's ministers have become richer & richer and the natural resources of the country have become the right of every minister but the common man. How is this different to what happened under the British East India Company or the British Raj?

The government today is autocratic and allows you do only what it wants to see; it is not fair in any aspect. The people of India are now confident, educated and the middle class is growing. A confident and educated nation is very difficult to govern and the government should understand this. If 10% of middle class in India come out on the streets the government will then suffer, and suffer it must for they have brought this upon themselves.

Corruption has crossed all boundaries. From fodder to 3G technology there isn't a single sector where a minister hasn't dug his teeth to suck money which belongs to the common man. The Fodder Scam guy became the Railway minister & the 2G-3G scam guy was in Jail for few months and then back dancing to "Apdi Podu!" The government is shameless and has taken everyone for a ride.

The minister's have build bungalows bigger than the Lords and Viceroys of British Empire, have cars and gun men protecting them as if they are kings of their area. Where as people do not have land to plough in their constituency and sleep on footpaths. I would spit on the ministers everyday if I could.

What are the next steps for a brighter India? Firstly the government needs to have a dialogue with the people's representatives right now, not tomorrow but right now. They must pull up their socks, need to implement new laws so that India is a safer, educated, healthier and transparent nation. The new laws which I can think of are:

New Police Law - Change the way police works in India - they are there to protect and not rule.

New Safety Law - Safety of the people when we step out of our homes - when on the road and off the road.

New Women's safety - Please do something about these rape cases.

New Education Law - build a school in every village build 5 when the village is big

New Law so that the citizens have good Sanitation and Clean water everyday - it should not take 65 years to solve the water problem in a country like India. we are called the land of rivers for god-sake; use your head!

Law which gives electricity to every home - Why does it take half a decade to build Nuclear power plants after a law has been passed?

Every administrator must be accountable to the people of India - No one, mister or administrator, is bigger than the common man.

any other???

Another request I have is to the media (TV, Print and Internet) in India. When such a high profile issue is going on in the country can we give cricket a second thought please. A rape happens and the issue comes on TV, then the next day if we have a cricket match; why does cricket take precedence? Isn't it common sense to have a talk about the bigger issue here? So dear media, the issues which concern the common man and can change the country should come first!

Hope that the government will serve the people first and their wallets later!

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Hold the doors - It makes your journey 30 seconds quicker but makes 400 other people late. Annoys the driver and he pees off every passenger on the train.

Open the newspaper in the middle of a crowded coach - What's with the newspaper? It gossip - they open it on my face and carry on reading as if I am invisible! Flipping jokers...

Sleep on my shoulder - No this is not your bed dear, this is a train coach! And this is my shoulder and not your pillow, so why don't you go back home if you want to have a nap; I love working and I am going to the office!

Listen to music at maximum volume - Doesn't give me a lot of trouble but I keep thinking and feel bad for the guy's ears all day. The probability of he turning deaf in couple of years in quite high.

Enjoy the music a bit too much and make the drummer moves and the guitar moves! Why do you feel that listening to music has turned you into a professional musician?

Walk around the coach - Some people think this is a supermarket and they walk around just to see "What's there? Where am I? How far am I from my stop?" Sit there! Keep your ears open. And they go - "Excuse me! Excuse me!" shhhh, sit Tommy!

Walk slowly down the stairs when I am trying to get into an early morning train. Some of them watch films on their smart phones and keep bumping into others. Don't understand what great film was released recently!

Folding bike on the train - This guy must have left home on a bike and jumped into the train... Trying to impress his new girlfriend? Or may be he injured himself while riding the bike?

Tourists that carry huge suitcases in the early morning rush hour - As soon as I see these guys in front of me, I try to move to a different queue. (No generalisation but it looks like they speak good Spanish or Italian! Never seen a Japanese with a huge suitcase - they might have big cameras! )

Passionate gamers - They are smart to carry an iPad (can watch films or read books and newspaper on those things) but stupid to play angry birds on it. They move around the iPad, playing the game passionately and you feel as if this thing might hit my face at the next opportunity.

Monday, June 04, 2012

Once upon a time there were 10 friends. They all thought it would be good if we all started a business together. They started a factory and in the beginning it was all supposedly good.

But slowly everyone realised that although 7 friends were very hard working; 3 of them were not exactly good for the group. One of them lied a lot; the second wasn't very hard working and kept partying all day with under-age girls and the third was just lazy. One day all the other seven decided that for them to keep the business afloat the other 3 would have to leave the group. And so it was decided that Greece, Portugal and Ireland would leave the Euro Zone on 1st of January 2013!

For the West to remain an economic power I think that the Euro Zone must break and only the stronger economies should remain within the Euro Zone. The countries I think should be in Eurozone are Germany, France, UK, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria & Sweden. That will make it a stronger economic area and will surely bring stability to the region & the world. With the stronger economic area we get a stronger currency and ultimately growth.

But then there should be growth in every sector. I believe for any economic sector to progress, there should be strong financial fundamentals, good manufacturing, efficient transportation, healthcare and housing for all. I strongly believe that with all the manufacturing moving to India and China, the West has found a huge hole in its pockets. The Euro Zone must try to innovate and manufacture high quality items in this area. Things like smart phones, Integrated Circuit chips, Satellite, Air-planes, etc should be the main focus and this can help in the growth of manufacturing in this zone.

Also, with Rising Inflation in Asia I think that the growth in that economic zone will slow down in future. There are two ways to move ahead faster than others; first is you run fast and leave others behind and the second is that the others slow down. So, it comes to such a situation that for the West to grow faster, they need to pray that India and China slow down a bit!

We can only hope that the West doesn't manufacture everything in China. This weekend when my wife and I went to the supermarket to do some shopping for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee; we found that the commemorative mugs for this occasion were "Made in China!" - This is an absolute joke. For the West to have growth we need some - COMMON SENSE! And may be some good luck.

And lastly, when countries like India and China change from "Developing Countries" to "Newly Developed Countries" I think the salaries will go up, the cost of living will go up, the good manufactured in India and China would not be as cheap as they were 10-15 years ago and the companies that outsourced manufacturing to India and China would have to bring back the manufacturing and that will bring growth back in the West.

I look forward to watching what happens to the West in the next 2-3 years and hope for the best...